Explaining complex things in simple words: Temporary maritime corridor, Putin’s rule, YouTube blocking in Russia

The Center for Strategic Communication and Information Security pursues efforts to provide a brief explanation to foreign audiences on the current topics of particular interest as regards Ukraine.     

TEMPORARY MARITIME CORRIDOR

After the unilateral withdrawal of the Russian Federation from the “grain agreement”, Ukraine provided the creation of a temporary maritime corridor, which has been in operation for a year.

 Ukraine is one of the largest agricultural product exporters in the world. Its exports primarily satisfy the demand of poor countries and are a contribution to maintaining global food security.

 Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine posed a threat to global food security. Moscow decided to play the “hunger games”, blackmailing the world with a blockade of food from Ukraine.

 In 2022, the Russians blocked Ukrainian seaports exporting food, turned cultivated fields into a war zone, and attacked ports and agricultural infrastructure.

 Attempts to negotiate with Moscow, implementing the “Black Sea Grain Initiative”, were unsuccessful. Russia unilaterally withdrew from the agreement and resumed attacks on Ukrainian ports.

PUTIN'S RULE

On August 9, 1999, Russian President Boris Yeltsin appointed Putin as Prime Minister and publicly announced him as his successor. Since then, the actual rule of Putin has continued.

 Putin has ruled the country for a quarter of a century, which is already longer than Brezhnev. A whole generation of Russians did not know any other rulers except Putin.

 At the head of Russia, Putin formally held the positions of president and prime minister, but this did not change the essence of his one-man dictatorial power. Having rewritten the constitution for himself, he rules as a usurper, not a legitimate head of state.

 Wars are the essence of Putin's rule. His cadence began with a war, followed by wars, and 25 years later, Russia is fighting again in an unjust war of aggression.

 A year after coming to power, in August 2000, Putin got into his first big scandal because of his indifference and lies during the Kursk submarine disaster. It is symbolic that today this name is associated with another shame of Putin.

 Dictator Putin brings misfortune both to the Russians themselves and to neighboring nations. His morbid ambitions led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, the destruction of entire cities, the emergence of millions of refugees, and the threat of global nuclear escalation.

YOUTUBE BLOCKING IN RUSSIA

After measures to artificially slow down the speed and threats of a complete blocking of the YouTube service by the Russian authorities, users in the territory under the control of the Russian Federation recorded a complete cessation of the hosting’s work.

 Russia has joined the countries where YouTube is blocked. In all these countries, as well as in the Russian Federation, there are problems with freedom of speech and violations of human rights. So, this is another demonstration of the Kremlin's geopolitical choice, which is anti-democratic and anti-Western.

 Blocking YouTube is evidence that the Kremlin does not want to put up with Internet resources that it does not control. The decision to block was preceded by huge efforts and investments in the creation of propaganda YouTube content in Russian, but this turned out to not be enough.

 YouTube is a business tool that has allowed thousands of Russians to earn. The Kremlin took away this source of income from them because it was not interested in increasing the number of financially independent citizens.

 Access to Facebook, Instagram, and thousands of other websites, including Russian opposition and foreign resources, is already blocked in Russia. This is a consistent policy of closing Russians into an information ghetto.

 The violation of the right of access to information by the Kremlin occurs not only in the Russian Federation, but also in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. Moscow forces Ukrainians under occupation to suffer together with Russian citizens.

Center for Strategic Communication and Information Security